


Not Alone

by Kendrickhier



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Valentine’s Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-14
Updated: 2018-02-14
Packaged: 2019-03-18 07:37:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13677207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kendrickhier/pseuds/Kendrickhier
Summary: Astra is watching Kara on her valentine’s date, which leads to her very own with M’gann.





	Not Alone

Kara looks so happy on her date, seated at one of the tables of their local alien bar. Her smile is radiant, bright enough to lighten up the dimly lit room as she speaks animatedly with them. Laughter resounds through the space, standing out from the murmurs and conversations everyone else is having. At least, to Astra it stands out; this is the happiest she’s seen her niece in years.

It warms her heart in ways she’s scarcely felt in the last few decades. The last time must have been before Fort Rozz, when her spy beacon lit up as brightly as the stars in the night sky. Or maybe about two years ago, when the confirmation came that Kara was still alive.

Still, those instances were complicated, dimmed by bitterness and anger and anguish. The only complication of this moment is the bittersweet feeling of having missed so much of Kara’s life, but it’s easily overshadowed by the happiness of being there for this right now.

Astra takes a sip of her drink—some Xilurian version of a carbonated beverage—as she watches them. Happy as Kara is right now, she has every intention of grabbing her date by the scruff of their neck if there is only the slightest indication of discomfort.

“They look like they’re having fun,” a feminine voice says beside her, behind the bar, capturing Astra’s attention immediately and prompting her to turn. M’gann is looking at her, and Astra can’t quite figure out what that look means. It’s not judgmental, not quite, it’s softer than that, but it’s sterner than a simple concern or casual remark. “They’ll be fine without you watching them.”

Astra’s first instinct is to argue: are they really? What if one of them gets injured, what if her date doesn’t have honorable intentions, _what if they’re really a spy for Cadmus and a way to get close to Supergirl?_ But even Astra can recognize the paranoia for what it is; M’gann is right, they’ll be fine. It’s not Kara she should be worried about if things do go south, Kara can hold her own just fine.

After a few moments she sighs, conceding, “I simply love seeing her this happy.”

It’s not the whole truth; there are layers of protectiveness and regret and other things she dares not look into that keep her here, watching over Kara, but it’s as honest as she can bring herself to be about this.

“And you’ve got nothing better to do this Valentine’s Day.”

It’s a conclusion easily drawn, and it’s an accurate one. Astra didn’t priorly have much interest in this holiday the humans concocted to ‘celebrate love’, not when it’s so clearly a commercial excuse to be lousy the rest of the year and be pressured into finding a partner, but seeing Kara with her valentine, well... It’s made her reconsider her stance, if only a little.

“No one else to spend the day with,” she merely confirms. Astra then turns back to the bartender and raises an eyebrow. “I could say the same about you, M’gann. You’re working.”

A soft smile plays around her lips, looking around the space and gesturing as she says, “Everything I love is right here.” M’gann looks back at Astra herself then. “And I’m not alone.”

Those deep brown eyes look at Astra intently, making her wonder if there is more meaning hiding in those glistening eyes. It’s moments like this she envies M’gann’s ability to read minds, even though she is just as incapable of reading Astra’s mind as Astra is hers. There is no certainty, no safety net, just their words and actions to gauge the situation. At the very least it puts them on an equal footing, which is a reassurance.

Besides, Astra has never had much trouble with being bold and outspoken. This isn’t the first time Astra’s wondered if perhaps M’gann would be interested in exploring what could bloom between the both of them, and she’d be lying if she said she hadn’t wondered the same.

“I’m hardly alone here either. I enjoy your company.” The widening smile in response is exactly what Astra was hoping for, and so she continues. “M’gann, will you be my valentine?”

There is a moment of silence, a stunned look that is giving Astra some doubt—that _is_ what the humans say, is it not? But it becomes evident soon enough just why there was a moment of hesitation as M’gann points out, “It’s ten thirty. You want me to be your valentine for 90 minutes?”

Astra merely nods. “I know some place we could go if you can get away.”

M’gann eyes her for a second before she nods, holding up her index finger to indicate she needs a second, presumably to wrap things up so she can leave. And indeed, she steps to her colleague—Darla, Astra picks up without really intending to—asks if she’ll be alright managing the bar without her, and tells her she’ll be back shortly after midnight when she gets the affirmative. It’s then that she returns to Astra with a smile, “Lead the way.”

The smile is returned with ease. “You mind if we fly there?”

A shake of her head was enough. Astra threw one last look at Kara and her valentine—who were engaged in a conversation she dare not listen in on, but they appeared to be having a good time still—before turning to her own and leading her out.

\-----

“I’m pretty sure this counts as trespassing,” M’gann remarks as she lands on the rooftop she’s followed Astra to, still in human form. There’s a subtle teasing smirk pulling at her lips, telling her she doesn’t necessarily mind it.

With a shrug, Astra settles down on one of the couple of lounging chairs. The owners of this building had decided to build a pool on their rooftop for some unbeknownst reason, but it worked out great not only for them, but for Astra as well. “Maybe, but this place has never given me any trouble. They either don’t know or don’t care.”

There was no hesitation in M’gann following suit, settling down on the chair next to her, even before she’s finished her reassurance. Astra looks up at the night sky then, bypassing the moon in favor of the stars.

Without her equipment it had taken a while to get reacquainted with them, figure out which star is which, especially considering the fact that humans use their own names for them, many of which are generic and don’t do them justice. The humans didn’t know what planets were attached to each star, didn’t know about their life forms or culture, barely knew what the majority of them would look like. (Credit where credit is due, their predicted visuals weren’t far off, if somewhat romanticized.) If it weren’t for the arrival of Kal-El and Kara—or rather, Superman and Supergirl—they would still call Rao some inept generic name as well.

Astra knows, however, and the memories of having at least passed by each system, of what they looked like, has the corners of her mouth curl up. “There is no better place in the area to watch the stars than right here,” she says, sounding wistful.

“You come here a lot?”

“Yes, nearly every clear night.” She glances at M’gann, finding she is looking up at the stars now, too. “Being able to locate myself in the galaxy like this, it grounds me. It helps me remember my travels, too.”

Smiling softly, Astra redirects her attention, glancing at Betelgeuse, as the humans call it. Though they have a decent idea of just how giant that red giant is, their feeble minds would not be able to imagine what she’s seen of it. They haven’t recorded the history of when that star still had planets either, don’t know that some of its ancient species still wanders the galaxy. She’d been honored to meet one of them, a long time ago, and even Astra struggled pronouncing the name of their kind. Alkan, the kind soul, had only laughed heartily and reassured her it was alright, that there was a reason they’d simplified their names in modern days.

It had been a humbling and insightful encounter.

Unbeknownst to Astra, M’gann is staring at her, seeing her caught up in the memory and how her expression became almost serene. In this moment there is no battle-hardened general to be seen, no trace of the scarred woman that had endured so much. No, all M’gann can see now is an explorer, one who has seen so much beauty in the universe and marvels at it. “You must have seen a lot.”

A hum as her gaze remains glued to the sky. “But for as much as I’ve seen, it’s only a fraction of our galaxy. There is so much out there, it’s impossible to see it all.” Astra does look at M’gann then, and their eyes lock onto each other immediately. Pale green eyes are so soft, the same marvel she’d directed at the stars now directed onto M’gann. “Have you ever been outside of this solar system?”

M’gann shakes her head, but doesn’t elaborate as to why. She doesn’t want to break the soft atmosphere they find themselves in now by mentioning she’s only really had one chance to get off-planet, and that was in the stolen spacecraft that brought her to Earth. It’s frankly a miracle she survived the trip at all, and Earth isn’t particularly well-stocked on proper space ships.

“Would you want to?”

“I don’t know,” she muses, thinking it over for a moment.

There hasn’t been any itch for her to leave this planet, not after she’d found good company at the bar; this was her home, these people her family, even though none of them were related by blood. To M’gann, space seems lonely, the vast expanses of nothingness, and people she may never be able to speak with due to language differences. She’d understand them, being the empath she is, or at least would understand the general gist of it, but being an empath hardly gave her the ability to just learn a language in an instant.

But the Kryptonian General would have experience with that, and with Astra she wouldn’t be alone.

“Maybe,” M’gann says eventually, quirking her head at her. “In the right company.”

It’s that look again, that same look she’d had thrown Astra back at the bar when she’d mentioned not being alone, or at least something similar to it. Astra mirrors the smile that accompanies it, reaches out a hand to M’gann’s, who promptly turns her palm upwards so they can hold onto each other.

No further words are necessary on the matter. Their hands remain connected as time passes, as they look at the stars and M’gann asks her to share some of her stories that are tied to them. It’s as easy to get lost in the stars as it is in each other’s eyes; it gives this feeling of closeness that neither has felt in a long time, or perhaps ever. At one point M’gann joins Astra on the mercifully armrest-less chair, huddled together in an attempt to increase that closeness, to make it physically as satisfying as it is emotionally.

In the end, it doesn’t make a huge difference.

‘Shortly after midnight’ becomes 1.27am, and neither of them can say they really mind. Even Darla can hardly blame her when she sees the two of them re-enter the bar after their clearly successful valentine’s date. So successful, in fact, that this Valentine’s Day wasn’t the last one spent together.


End file.
